Ride a giant sandworm in thrilling 'Dune Part 2' trailer

Long live the fighters! 

After waiting what has seemed like eons, the new trailer for esteemed director Denis Villeneuve's "Dune Part 2" has landed with a somewhat muddled and underwhelming first look preview of the sequel to 2021's "Dune."

This operatic promo uses a scattershot technique with a montage of images from the barren landscape of Arrakis as Paul Atreides assumes his role as the prophesized savior, leading azure-eyed Fremen on a crusade to retake their home planet.

Here we also see that Paul's peepers are now blue-within-blue due to prolonged exposure to the spice melange, along with cutaways to an intermingling of buzzing ornithopters, endless sand dunes, flashing blades and massing native troops.

Related: Everything we know about Dune: Part 2

Stellan Skarsgard's behemoth Baron Harkonnen makes a quick appearance, as does the mystical Water of Life, a bald-headed Austin Butler as the fierce Feyd-Rautha, Zendaya's Chani whispering romantic secrets, Dave Bautista's hulking Rabban, Josh Brolin's brooding Gurney Halleck, and Florence Pugh playing Princess Irulan. 

Paul later plants a thumper tool to entice a monster worm, while Fremen chieftain Stilgar (Javier Bardem) instructs the fledgling messiah on sandworm riding techniques by offering the advice, "Be simple. Be direct. Nothing fancy." And coincidentally that might also be the best description of this initial ho-hum trailer.

Here's the film's official synopsis:

"'Dune: Part Two' will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee." 

Still, despite having no particular through-line or thematic cohesion, it's only the first of many "Dune" trailers to come before its fall release that will certainly target more of the plot and character arcs. This sneak peek is merely a tease to rouse one's appetite for the followup chapter of the "Dune" saga and acts as a vehicle to reacquaint audiences with the overall situation between the brutal Harkonnen clan after the tragic fall of House Atreides and the planet-altering holy war to come.

Legendary Pictures' sci-fi saga showcases returning stars Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgard, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, and Charlotte Rampling alongside new faces to the franchise such as Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, Lea Seydoux, Tim Blake Nelson, and Christopher Walken as the treacherous Emperor Shaddam IV.

Filmed entirely in IMAX format and adapted from author Frank Herbert's seminal novel, director Denis Villeneuve's "Dune Part 2" hits theaters on November 3, 2023.

Need to catch up on "Dune" before Part 2 arrives? Be sure not to miss our Dune streaming guide.